There is no longer a President of the Federation but a Prefect of the Synesis. A speech by the Prefect provokes riots on Earth and the Moon. Today, in Lancaster, a newspaper headline informed me that troops are being deployed in case of civil unrest caused by the terms of the British withdrawal from the European Union!
The Prefect voices the inflammatory "'...conjecture...'" (p. 78) that Anson Guthrie on Demeter did not want Demetrians to hear new ideas that would make them question his rule. Of course we know that this cannot be true of Guthrie but see how it is possible to smear someone without even lying. You look peaceful but I "conjecture" that you are secretly planning violence...
Years ago, the then Archbishop of York said that the Resurrection of Christ must be an event of spiritual significance and cannot be a mere "trick with bones." I heard him say this on TV and thought nothing of it. Next, the TV news reported that the Archbishop of York had used the phrase, "trick with bones," in relation to the Resurrection of Christ! Political equivalent: I say, "No one can say that Winston Churchill was a traitor to his country." Then it it is (correctly) reported that I have used the phrase, "traitor to his country," in relation to Winston Churchill.
The Prefect accurately argues that:
cerebral data-storage capacity is finite;
endlessly accumulating memories would cause dementia;
memories could be edited, and stored elsewhere, with each new resurrection;
but then the eventual personality would no longer be identical with the original;
therefore, literal immortality is impossible.
A valid point. However, I agree with Fenn:
"'Um-m, a point. But I don't think I'd mind a run of several thousand years, myself. And after that - who knows?'" (p. 82)
The Prefect continues to use loaded language by saying that "'...the unnatural descent...'" (ibid.) of downloading and resurrection must eventually lead to extinction. Why is technological prolongation of life "unnatural" and should we not extend life if we can?
25 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
A bad sign, there being no longer a World Federation President, or even PM. No longer even a FEDERATION. A mere "Prefect of the Synesis." It all smacks of human beings no longer calling the shots and being increasingly irrelevant!
And Theresa May's duplicity and dishonesty about Brexit is why there is anger and unrest within the UK! The "Remainers" have been trying cook up a spurious Brexit while tacitly surrendering the UK's sovereignty to the EU. I strongly suspect May will soon be force to submit her resignation to the Queen, who will then consulting Parliamentary leaders about who best will be able to form a gov't. Boris Johnson, strongly hostile to the EU, may become PM.
The best way to leave the EU is for the UK to simply denounce and repudiate the EU treaties! No long drawn out, endlessly stalling pseudo negotiations!
Sean
Kaor, Paul!
I would have pointed out to Fenn that the ORIGINAL Fenn would not be around to enjoy this kind of quasi immortality. Only a copy of the first Fenn.
Another thought I had about the Brexit chaos in the UK is that this might give the Labour Party an undeserved opportunity to escape the damaging embarassment caused by its leader Jeremy Corbyn's anti-Semitic views and associates.
Sean
Sean,
JC is not anti-Semitic.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I'm sorry, but I disagree. Recall what Stirling said about Corbyn, statements I believed confirmed by other sources I've read.
Sean
Sean,
You have read sources that accuse Corbyn. He campaigns against all forms of racism. His critics do not. But they accuse him of anti-Semitism to discredit what he does stand for.
Accusations of anti-Semitism are orchestrated by Zionists. Israel is fundamentally racist first because it is explicitly a Jewish state and secondly because it denies full citizenship to Palestinians.
States, as long as they exist, should be entirely secular institutions, treating everyone with full equality. There should be no Jewish, Aryan, Muslim, white, black, Catholic or Protestant state.
Paul.
Sean,
BTW IMO, a valid criticism of Corbyn: too indecisive and vacillating. While criticizing Israel, we must consistently challenge anti-Semitism. I have to do this with a Muslim neighbor who uses "Zionist" as a sort of swear word.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Again, I'm sorry, but I disagree with you. What MATTERS is whether Corbyn's critics say is true, as regards his anti-Semitism. And what he has actually said still comes across as bigotry against Jews, even if he actually believes that is not what he said. And some of his associates are anti-Semitic.
And compared to the entire Mid East, Israel is by far the most democratic nation there. And that does not mean I am denying Israel has her share of flaws. And there are Muslim Israeli citizens whose status, in law, is the same as Jewish Israelis. So I disagree with you about Israel being racist.
I have no sympathy whatever for the so called Palestinians. Their fanaticism, brutality, and total unwillingness to accept any kind of compromise which entails them accepting the existence of Israel has forfeited whatever sympathy I might have had for them.
And is it POSSIBLE for any Muslim nation to treat everybody in it the same? The Koran commands Muslims to rule and to make all non-Muslims submit to them. There is nothing in the Koran about rendering to God and Caesar what belongs to them.
Sean
Sean,
Please don't apologize for disagreeing. You would need to quote something that Corbyn has said to show me that it is anti-Semitic. Some of his associates are anti-Semitic? But they are not him. And some people on the other side are bigoted and so on.
I understand that only Jews can have full Israeli citizenship, also that Palestinians are very badly treated and that Israelis are very uncompromising.
Is it impossible for a Muslim state to treat everyone the same? As I said, I do not believe that there should be a Muslim state.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
When I find the article about Jeremy Corbyn and his alleged anti-Semitism, I will quote some relevant portions. It was published by NATIONAL REVIEW, an eminently respectable magazine which has been hard on anti-Semites of both left and right.
I have not done a detailed study of Israeli politics and law, but I do KNOW that Muslims who are Israeli citizens can do things like vote and sit in the Knesset. Which is vastly better than how non-Muslims are treated everywhere else in the Mid East and beyond, in Muslim countries.
Like you, I don't believe there should be a Muslim state--but the problem is the majority of Muslims would not agree! And they could cite ample evidence from their primary doctrinal sources on why they believe their Allah commands that of them.
Sean
Sean,
I attended a meeting at which we were told that Israel recently decreed that only Jews can have full Israeli citizenship.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
A mere meeting is not enough. I would need actual citation of the texts of actual laws. One thing I would suggest doing is to invite an official from the Israeli consulate or embassy to give a discussion of Israeli citizenship laws.
Btw, while I have not yet found the article discussing in detail Jeremy Corbyn's anti-Semitism, I did find another article in NATIONAL REVIEW touching on this: "Prime Minister Corybyn?" (NATIONAL REVIEW, July 10, 2017), pages 24-26. The article is a general overview of Corbyn, and frankly critical of him, discussing a variety of issues he has gotten involved with. But the two paragraphs I quoted below from page 25 below gives evidence of the stench of anti-Semistism around him.
But Corbyn's embrace of far-left causes can make him
morally on occasion. In 2009, when announcing that he
had invited members of the Palestine Solidarity
Campaign to address Parliament, he said: "It will be
my pleasure and honor to host an event in Parliament
where our friends from Hezbullah will be speaking. I've
also invited our friends from Hamas to come and speak."
When he took over the Labour party's leadership, he only
said he regretted the "inclusive language" he had used.
Good heavens! This alone condemns Corbyn as an anti-Semite, when he calls the Jew hating exterminationist scum of Hezbullah and Hamas "friends"! The next paragraph I quoted is no better: "Sometimes these efforts at "inclusion" are bone-headed. Corbyn added to a series of recent anti-Semitic remarks by British left-wingers when he compared Israel to ISIS last year: "Our Jewish friends are no more responsible for the actions of Israel or the Nethanyahu government than our Muslim friends are for those of various self-styled Islamic states," he proclaimed in a kind of back-handed magnanimity. His intention was to embrace Muslims, but the moral equivalence of his comparison amounted to a blood libel."
As far as I'm concerned, this gives us ample of the stench of anti-Semitism emanating from Corbyn and his associates. The other article I'm trying to find goes into this matter in greater detail.
Sean
Sean,
Of course a mere meeting is not enough! I was merely indicating the nature of my source as you did with yours. The speaker was a well-informed representative of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
It is not anti-Semitic to criticize the sometimes violent actions of the Israeli state.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
As a matter of principle, I agree. But I would also want to know the circumstances around those "violent incidents" by Israel. Were they retaliation for terrorist attacks? And so on.
Sean
I have found plenty of accounts of discrimination against Palestinians but not the specific point that I thought I had heard about them carrying a different kind of passport.
Kaor, Paul!
There must be some Israelis in or near Lancaster. You could ask, very politely as I'm sure you would be, to look at an Israeli passport.
Sean
Sean,
I will keep at it.
Paul.
Sean,
The PSC didn't get back to me. I rang the Israeli Embassy but only got a recorded voice and strange sounds.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
That has happened to me, only getting recorded messages when I made some calls. Again, I think of the images of the personal information pages of Israeli passports I looked up: nothing was said on them of the religion of the persons they were issued to.
Sean
Sean,
I agree. That is as far as we have got so far. It looks like I have misunderstood something I have heard in a meeting although more information might come my way.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Either that or someone was bashing Israel! Falsely accusing Israel of this or that does happen.
Sean
Sean,
Not on this occasion. There are discriminatory practices in Israel. No one has to invent any.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I agree. Jews can be as imperfect and flawed as anyone else. That said, I still believe Israel to be better than her neighbors. Simply recall the brutalities inflicted on Coptic Christians in Egypt, for example!
Sean
You could have fooled me. When a guy cavorts with people who gleefully behead 3 month old Jewish kids, I tend to lean in the direction of antisemitism.
Of course, the 99.99999% of anti-Zionists who hate Jews make it so difficult for the others...
Kaor, Merkava!
It's good to see a new combox commentator here. I hope we see more remarks from you.
And I agree with you, which is why I put so little confidence in the less than sterling good will of Israel's neighbors.
Ad astra! Sean
Merkava,
I am sure that not that many anti-Zionists hate Jews. Where I live, anti-Zionists join with the University Jewish Society in remembering the Holocaust.
Paul.
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